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Saturday, 27 December 2014

What Sin

By
Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga

The screen yawned like the cavernous mouth of a black
hole, pulling Jun into its vacuum. She let it drag her there, away from
thoughts and worries from a past life that threatened to stain the white
furniture of her apartment red. The doorbell rang. The screen spit her out and
Jun leaped over the back of her couch to get to the door.

“Who is it?” She asked as she pressed her eye to the peep
hole. Pale blue-grey eyes stared back, framed by ghostly strands of hair
escaping from a messy bun. Unlocking the door, Jun grimaced for good measure, “Ew.
It’s Psycho Psyche.”

Psyche rolled her eyes. “I’m here to check on you.” Her
eyes flicked around the room, a split second flash that Jun caught with
practiced ease.

She narrowed her eyes. “’Check on me’, huh?” Leaning on
the door frame, she crossed her arms. “You sense some Unseen here? You’re
looking at one.”

Psyche shook her head. “You’re half-Unseen.” Crossing her own arms, she added. “Mind telling me
why there’s so much Unseen activity in and around your house?”

Jun threw her head back. “Oh! Oh you think I would definitely allow Unseen to party at my
place.”

Averting her eyes from the ashen blue of her teammate,
Jun walked back inside, inviting Psyche to follow. Making her way to the
kitchen, she took out two mugs and started heating water for tea.

“Earl Grey, right?” She called as her hands grasped a tin
box. “Have a seat on the couch.”

“Yeah,” Psyche replied absently, eyes lingering on the plasma
screen television before her. “Interesting décor,” she commented. “Because
everything is white, all eyes are drawn to the television screen.”

“Yeah, well,” Jun leaned on the counter, focusing on the
low rumbling of the electric kettle. “It’s how my mom likes it.”

Psyche turned her head around to meet Jun’s. “And your
mother is…?”

“Not here,” Jun turned away, grasping the kettle to pour
hot water onto the tea bags within each mug. Honestly, she thought. Could this
girl have any less tact? She handed a mug to Psyche who took a deep whiff of
the steam and exhaled with bliss.

“How did you know I like Earl Grey tea?” She wondered.

Jun shrugged. “It’s what you always have at Mr. Kyle’s
office.”

“Ah,” Psyche nodded.

Noticing the way her hands shook as she held tightly onto
her own mug, Jun set it down, hoping Psyche wouldn’t catch the one drop that
landed on the glass top of the coffee table, though its brownish shade is hard
to miss. Leaning forward, she let her hair hide the profile of her face as she rose
to retrieve the cream and sugar from the kitchen.

“Jun…” Psyche bit her lip. Her teammate wore an
expression that even the coldest heart couldn’t continue questioning. It was
that dark-circles-under-the-eye, red-rimmed sunken face, as if Jun’s life
wasted away in front of the television screen, as if its darkness took
everything for the sake of remembering nothing, nothing of the horror imprinted
in those dark brown eyes.

She pressed on despite herself, “…it’s illegal to keep a
portal to the Unseen open.”

Jun flinched away, slapping her arms down, eyes wild and
glistening. “What’s wrong with wanting to see your mom again?” She yelled. Her
voice increased in pitch. “Is it a sin to want to see my mom again?” Her lips
shook out of control. “Mom…”

As Jun sank to the floor, sobbing like a lost
four-year-old, Psyche wondered what on earth she could do for a friend who
broke the rules to keep herself sane.